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Party of European Socialists President, Sergei Stanishev has welcomed the scrapping of a controversial proposal by the conservative Spanish government to refuse the right to abortion. The Spanish Government u-turn comes after months of pressure from European and global women’s’ rights groups, including PES Women.

Mr. Stanishev said that; “the Spanish Government has finally bowed to international pressure and acknowledged that the right of a woman to control over her own body and her own future is a fundamental one. I congratulate PSOE, our member party in Spain, for their tireless campaigning and in particular, their coordination of a highly successful international campaign of mobilisation’.

The President of PES Women, Zita Gurmai, said that; “this decision is a victory for women in Spain, for solidarity among European women, for progressive sense and the demands of PES Women’s long-standing campaign of ‘My Body, My Rights’”.

The PES leaders noted that while this retrograde step had been successfully avoided, there were still many steps needed to improve women’s’ rights in Spain. For example, the government still wishes to have parental consent for girls aged 16 to 18 seeking access to abortion services. PES will continue its work to ensure that women’s rights meet the highest standards.